Filler for cracker and cake boxes.



F. A. SHUNK.

FILLER FOR GRACKER AND CAKE BOXES APPLIOATIOH TILED APR.5, 1013.

'1, 1 08,405 Patented Aug. 25, 1914.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE. l

FRANK A. SHUNK, or STREA'IORMILLINOIS, AssIGNoR ro sAwYEn.

. y y or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or ILLINOIS.

BISCUIT comrANY,

FILLER ron CRACKERAND CAKE BOXES.

To all whom may] concern l a l Belt known that I, FRANK A. S-I-IUNK, a citlzen of the United States, residing at Streator, county of La Salle, States of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Fillers for Cracker and Cake Box-es, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable o t-hers skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

It is the custom with maufaeturers of.

crackers and small cakes to use boxes of standard sizes in which to pack the goods and deliver them to the dealer. ()n account of the varying sizes and shapes of crackers, cakes and similar goods, they do not always completely fill the box into which they are packed and thus an empty space is left in the top of the box above the goods and this space must be filled in some way in order to prevent the goods from becoming displaced and damaged in shipment. Furthermore, it

y will often happen that a dealer does not desire to buy a full box of goods of a certain kind and therefore the empty space in the partly filled box must be filled in some way to protect the goods in shipment. The present means for filling empty spaces in the tops of boxes of the kind specified is to place therein paper bags filled with excelsior or the like. The excelsior often leaks out of the bags and gets among the goods and, furthermore. the excelsior is apt to become compressed in a box which remains upside down for sometime so that the goods will be left more or less loose and therefore subject to injury.

The object of my invention is to produce a simple and novel means for effectively filling a space of any desired depth above the contents of a box of the character heretofore specified.

The various features of novelty whereby my invention is characterized will hereinafter be pointed out with particularity in the claim; but, for a full understanding of my invention and of its object and advantages, reference may be had to the following detailed description taken in connection wit thaaceompanying drawing, wherein:

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 25, 1914.

Application filed April 5,1913. Serial No. 759,260.

box or receptacle forcrackersor cakes, hav ing therein one of my improve-d filling devices; Fig. 2 is a plan view on a smaller scale of the filling device in the condition in which it is received by the packer; Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig. 2 showing a device adapted to be placed in a deeper space than that for which the device shown in Fig. 2 is adapted; Fig. 4 is an edge view on an enlarged scale of a fragment of one of the devices shown in Figs. 2 and 3; and Figs. 5 and 6 are edge views of two somewhat different forms of the filling devices in the condition which they are in when assembled in a box. 1 l. a

Referring to Figs. 1 to 4 of the drawing, 1 represents an ordinary rectangular cracker or cake box having a lid, 2. 3 represents a quantity of crackers, cakes and the like packed into the box to a height somewhat short of the top.

In accordance with my invention I place above the goods in the box a corrugated paper board, 4, the main portion of which is just long enough to extend across the box and the end portions, 5, of which are bent upwardly at right angles to the body portion and lie against the sides of the box; the end portions being long enough to extend up and engage either with the lid or cover or with the under side of a rib, 6, around the mouth of the box, where the top edge of the box is rolled or bent inwardly as shown. The paper board is strong enough to serve as a practically solid filler which holds the goods firmly in place and which cannot become disarranged or distorted during the shipment of the box. The filler is not only strong and reliable but it is cheap and light and easily placed in position and, further more, it is clean and does away with the objection heretofore encountered of excelsior or other loose material sifting down upon the goods.

The filler may be prepared in various ways. If desired, pieces of paper board may be scored along lines spaced apart a distance equal to the width of the box in which they are to be placed, the end pieces outside of the scored lines being left long enou h to form fillers of the maximum depth which may be required. In this case it would be necessary to cut off sections of the end pieces where shallower fillers are desired and I therefore prefer to make a series of blanks of different lengths so that the packer may select the one which will fit in any particular box which he may be packing. Thus in Figs. 2 and 3 the body portions of the blanks be-' tween the scored lines 7 and 8 are of the same length, the end pieces, 5, in one blank being narrower than the end pieces 9 of the other blank. Any desired number of such blanks may of course be provided so as to give any desired range to take care of a box which is almost full, a box which is almost empty or any intermediate condition.

Instead of bending the ends of the board at right angles to the body, the ends may be the free edges of the end pieces meeting at the center of the body portion as indicated in Fig. 6. Each end piece in this arrangement consists of two halves, 12 and 13. As is the case in the form shown in Fig. 5 the device shown in Fig. 6 is adapted to engage with the under side of the cover or lid.

I claim:

A box filler comprising a corrugated board scored along two parallel lines extending across the corrugations between the than one-half the length of the board, the ends of the board being bent laterally toedges into engagement with each other.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specifi-. cation in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK A. SHUNK.

lVitnesses WM. F. FREUDENREIGH,

RUTH E. ZETTERVALL.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patente, Washington, D. 0..

ends of the board at a distance apart less ward each other so as to bring their free v 

